Minority law school admission trends: Effects of the death of affirmative action on minority enrollment in law school

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine the process of acquiring a law school education through a complex set of university administrative constructs called affirmative action. As such, these constructs are applied in the context of addressing past discriminating practices directed toward protected classes of people. For the purposes of this paper, the population of African American students who apply to law school each year is the set under scrutiny. Affirmative action guidelines were implemented as a means of preventing discriminatory acts and creating systems to eliminate the historic differential between Whites and Blacks created by poverty, institutional racism, and other institutionalized activities that have sustained a multilevel system bent on the denial of educational access in the United States. ^ The interviewees received e-mail messages followed by either fax or written documentation prior to each interview. In each case, the subject was advised of the intent, purpose, and scope of the intended interview and research. If requested, copies of the interview questions were mailed to each subject in advance of the actual interview. ^ Two distinct patterns emerged: (a) the schools where affirmative action had been interrupted showed a decline in the enrollment of African American students and (b) the school site where there had been no interruption of affirmative action practices showed no dramatic decline or other changes in the enrollment of African American law school students. ^